Inheritance issue

[chickensaladagain]

I'm a loan parent, never married my children's father but he is named on their birth certificates

He only has parental responsibility for the youngest

I have a will that leaves everything to my dcs but what if they then die before having their own dcs/ getting married

If they have no wills would their father automatically inherit?

Sorry bit morbid, hopefully will never happen

[chickensaladagain]

Lone parent even

[mumblechum1]

No, your will should have said something along the lines of:

"...to divide my residuary estate equally between such of my children as shall survive me and if more than one in equal shares BUT IF any child of mine dies before me leaving a child or children then that child or those children shall take the gift which their parent would otherwise have taken and if more than one in equal shares" then later on it'll say that otherwise, any gifts which fail will be divided pro rata between the beneficiaries whose gifts don't fail.

Translated into plain English that means that if one of your children died before you and they had children, their share would go to their children. If, however, one of your children dies before you leaving no child, then his or her share is divided between your surviving children.

Therefore your children's father has no claim against your estate.

If you need any more info feel free to PM me (I'm a will writer and have a paid for advert over on Classified Small Business).

[ValentineWiggins]

I don't think that's what the op means. She means that she dies, leaves her money to the kids. Then (after she is dead) they die intestate which means their money (which she left them) goes to their next of Kin...which presumably would be the father named on the birth cert?

[mumblechum1]

Oh right. Well yes, if they have no wills and die after the OP, then their estate would go to their NoK, whoever that may be. So if they're unmarried and childless, it would go to their father.